Indonesia to Implement Sulphur Cap on Schedule

Indonesia has decided that vessels flying the Indonesian flag would comply with the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap, after the country earlier informed that it needed more time to comply.

Namely, the country’s Ministry of Transportation confirmed that the rule would be applied to “all Indonesian-flagged vessels starting January 1, 2020, both for domestic and foreign shipping,” according to Reuters.

The latest development comes less than a month after Indonesia said it would not switch to low-sulphur fuel from January 1, 2020, due to abundant supplies of 3.5% sulphur content fuel at its energy firm Pertamina.

The earlier plan was to allow Indonesia-flagged ships to continue burning marine fuels with a maximum 3.5% sulphur content in the country’s territorial waters past 2020, without having to use scrubbers, until the stocks were exhausted.

Under the IMO’s regulation, set for implementation from January 2020, ships will have to use fuel with a maximum 0.5% sulphur content, down from the current 3.5%, unless they are equipped with scrubbers.